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7: The Crown’s Hunger

Author: LJ Faulkner
last update publish date: 2026-05-26 00:57:37

The crowned corpse lunged.

It came out of the cracked floor with the speed of something that had been starving under stone for centuries.

One moment, it was all blackened bone and silver roots, dragging itself from the split beneath the throne. The next, it was across the chamber, crowned skull tilted toward me, hollow eyes burning with a sick red light.

Damien’s voice poured from its open mouth.

“Found you.”

The sound hit me worse than the creature did.

For half a heartbeat, I was back in Thor
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  • Rejected by the Alpha, Crowned by the Lycan King   11: The Grave Breaks

    The Crown woke beneath Black Hollow, and the graveyard screamed.Not with one voice.With hundreds.Every blue-white soul light above Queen Amara’s tomb flared bright enough to turn the black roses silver. The marble grave split down the center, a jagged line tearing through the carved crown at its heart, and from somewhere far below us, deep under root and stone and ancient blood, something answered the Heart beating beneath my palm.Boom.Cassian’s Heart.Boom.My chest.Boom.The Crown.For one horrifying second, I could not tell where his heartbeat ended and mine began.My hand was still pressed against him, my blood soaked through the torn fabric over his chest. Beneath my palm, silver light pulsed hot and alive, burning through cloth, skin, bone, and whatever curse had been shoved into him twenty-one years ago.The bond snapped between us again.Not like a chain.Not like a rope.Like lightning hitting water.I felt him.Not in a pretty, romantic way.Not soft.Not gentle.I fel

  • Rejected by the Alpha, Crowned by the Lycan King   10: I Refuse

    The gate split. Golden light poured through the crack like sunrise forced into a grave. For one breath, no one moved. Not the villagers huddled along the old throne road. Not Ben with Wren half-hidden behind his coat. Not Cassian, bleeding against the stone wall with his silver eyes fixed on the breaking gate. Not me. The light should have been warm. It was not. It bled through the seams of the mourning gate in thin, sharp lines, cutting across the black stone road, across the floating blue-white soul lights, across the faces of the people we had just saved. Gold. Damien’s color. Alpha magic. Command. The cracked gate groaned as something struck it from the other side. Once. Twice. On the third hit, dust rained down from the arch. Wren whimpered. Ben pulled her behind him and lifted his hatchet. “Tell me t

  • Rejected by the Alpha, Crowned by the Lycan King   9: Take Mine Instead

    The roots released Wren. For one perfect second, she was free. The little girl collapsed backward into the snow, sobbing so hard no sound came out. Ben caught her under the arms and dragged her away from the cracked earth with surprising speed for a man who complained every time he had to bend over. “Move!” he barked. “All of you, move!” The villagers obeyed because terror had finally made language unnecessary. They ran. Mothers grabbed children. Old men stumbled. Someone screamed for a brother. Someone else dropped a bundle of clothes and did not stop to pick it up. The mourning gate still stood sealed at the far end of the square, red magic pulsing across its stone arch like veins under skin. But Wren was alive. That mattered. It mattered so much that I almost forgot the roots were wrapped around my wrist. Almost. Then they tightened. Pain shot up my arm with such force that my knees buckled. I hit the snow hard, one hand braced against the frozen ground, the other trapp

  • Rejected by the Alpha, Crowned by the Lycan King   8: The Old Throne Road

    “I’m thinking Damien just gave us enough time to make him regret asking.”The words left my mouth before fear could ruin them.For one moment, everyone stared at me.The village still glowed above the trees in Selene’s red magic. Briar Glen hung there like a nightmare painted in bloodlight, every house and street visible through the spell. Thorncrest soldiers moved between the cottages, dragging people into the snow. Men were forced to their knees. Women clutched children against their chests. A little girl stood with a blade pressed beneath her chin, her small hands balled into fists at her sides.She was trying not to cry.That made it worse.Children should scream when monsters hold knives to their throats.They should cry. Kick. Bite. Make the world hear what is being done to them.But this girl had already learned something no child should have to know.Sometimes making noise only makes cruel people smile.My hands curled so tightly my bandaged palm split open again.Fresh blood

  • Rejected by the Alpha, Crowned by the Lycan King   7: The Crown’s Hunger

    The crowned corpse lunged.It came out of the cracked floor with the speed of something that had been starving under stone for centuries.One moment, it was all blackened bone and silver roots, dragging itself from the split beneath the throne. The next, it was across the chamber, crowned skull tilted toward me, hollow eyes burning with a sick red light.Damien’s voice poured from its open mouth.“Found you.”The sound hit me worse than the creature did.For half a heartbeat, I was back in Thorncrest Hall.His hand around my throat.His blade above my heart.His smile soft enough to ruin lives.Then Cassian shoved me behind him.Silver light exploded from his hand.The creature hit it midair.The impact cracked like thunder.The force threw me backward. My boots skidded over the black stone floor, and I slammed into one of the roots hanging from the chamber wall. Pain burst through my shoulder. The air left my lungs in a hard rush.Cassian did not move.He stood between me and the cro

  • Rejected by the Alpha, Crowned by the Lycan King   6: The Blood Door

    “It already does.”The words crawled up from beneath the ruined watchtower and wrapped around my spine.For a moment, no one breathed.The hearth burned blue. The children huddled beneath stolen Thorncroft blankets. Mara stood frozen with a strip of bandage in one hand, her face pale in the unnatural light. Old Ben had his hatchet raised halfway, as if he meant to fight the staircase itself and was only deciding where to aim.The hidden door in the carved wall waited open.Beyond it, stone stairs disappeared into darkness.Not ordinary darkness.This darkness looked layered. Thick. Like something had been folded beneath the tower for years and was only now being unwrapped.Cold air poured from below, brushing over my boots, slipping under my sleeves, touching the burn on my palm with invisible fingers.The mark throbbed.Once.Twice.Like a second heartbeat.Cassian stepped fully in front of me.“No,” he said again.This time, the word was not quiet.It cracked through the chamber, ha

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